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July 1, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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Wet blanket on normal life
in city, Jagraon Ludhiana, June 30 According to reports coming in from different parts of the city, there is hardly any area here that has remained unaffected by the rain. The worst affected have been Model Town, parts of Sarabha Nagar, Gurdev Nagar, Aggar Nagar and Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar. Most parts of the old city like Field Ganj, Lakkar Bazar, Gurdwara Dukh Niwaran Road, Madhopuri, Shivpuri and several other low-lying areas here have also been flooded. Mr Gyan Singh of the Blood Bank of the Christian Medical College and Hospital, who suffered an electric shock in the flooded hospital basement, was saved by some other employees of the hospital who turned the main switch off and rushed him to the ICU. His condition is said to be serious. The rain water entered shops, basements and hundreds of houses in the low-lying areas. Areas like Kashmir Nagar on Gaushala Road remained cut off from rest of the city for several hours after water from the nearby Budha Nullah overflowed into the surrounding areas. The crop along the banks of the nullah were also flooded. Mr Parshotam Singh of Kashmir Nagar said, “Residents of the area could not come out of their houses as the water level was more than four feet. The drainage system collapsed and there was no outlet for the rain water. We are waiting for the rain to stop and the water level to recede before we come out of our houses,” he said. He criticised officials of the Municipal Corporation and the local councillor, who, he said, had never bothered to visit the area. The flooding of basement stores in various markets resulted in huge losses. Mr Titu Thapar, a trader of the Kesar Ganj market and senior Vice-President of the Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal, said huge stocks of sugar, flour, wheat and cloth stored in the basements had been damaged. Most traders use basements as stores. Water also entered the underground storage tanks of several petrol pumps here. The water-level in most local markets was upto four feet. Mr Thapar said, “Since the drainage system has collapsed, even the water from the street has entered the shops because it has found no other way out.” The road outside Arya Model School of Shastri Nagar that connects Sarabha Nagar to Model Town turned
virtually into a pond after the rain. The water level there was more than four feet. Many vehicles were stranded in water and being on Ludhiana roads today was a driver’s nightmare.
JAGRAON The heavy rain, though provided respite from heat, also disrupted normal life in the town today. The situation worsened due to a lack of proper drainage system from Rani Jhansi Chowk to Raikot Adda and Khangah Mohkamdin to Sherpura railway crossing. Things were the same in Nehru Market, Old Anaj Mandi, Shastri Nagar, and on Railway Road and Link Road. The drains at some places remain
Kamal Chowk, where Tehsil Road, Raikot Road and College Road meet and there is a ‘dargah’ of Pir Baba Mohkam Din, besides two big schools — Senmati Vimal Jain Senior Secondary Public School and Sikh Khalsa Girls Senior Secondary School — was flooded. The Sadan Market complex seemed to be floating and so did the shops of Old Anaj Mandi. Stocks worth lakhs of rupees were damaged and the office of the Senior Superintendent of Police, too, virtually turned into a pool. Notwithstanding tall claims of the local Municipal Council, it has taken no step to set things right. Instead of providing residents with a proper drainage system, so far, it has only invited tenders for repairing broken roads and raising the level of roads to that of the shops here, for reasons best known to
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Safai workers flay Health Dept Ludhiana, June 30 Addressing the meeting, Dr Khosla alleged that the clerical staff of the health branch was involved in a big racket of loan sharking, in connivance with some of the senior officers and financiers. The principal and exorbitant interest on the loan was deducted from the salaries of the safai workers and at times, part of the money so deducted, was retained by the clerks. Mr Ram Parkash Gill, chairman, District Valmiki Sabha and Mr Walaiti Ram Moong, president, Safai Labour Union charged the MC staff with siphoning off funds released by the state government or the civic body for the safai workers. ‘‘The financial benefits provided to the safai workers were not disbursed in the office but were handed over through the agents of the clerical staff after deduction of commission, which is shared at many levels.’’ According to Dr Khosla, there have been instances, when the installment of various kinds of loans, including those availed from the MC, was deducted from the salary of an employee but the same was not deposited or credited to the loan amount. Among others, Mr Nek Ram, vice-president, Mr Vijay Kumar, general secretary of Safai Mazdoor Federation, Mr Sikander Sidhu, president, Naujawan Safai Mazdoor Union, Mr Bhag Ram Sidhu, Mr Vijay Manchanda, Mr Naresh Thapar, Mr Sanjiv Nona, Mr Karan Rathor, Mr Parshottam Nahar, all activists of federation attended the meeting. |
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No gas: LPG gives new pump to
farmers Ludhiana, June 30 Farmers of various villages along the Pakhowal road said the LPG was pocket and environment friendly. They took a cue from the increasing use of gas cylinders for running motor vehicles. With a minor technical adjustment, the cost of which is only Rs 200, their diesel motors are now running on the LPG, faster and quieter than ever before. They also said the LPG cylinders, priced at only Rs 240 each, were also a good alternative to the erratic power supply that was delaying the sowing of paddy. Mr Charan Singh Grewal, a progressive farmer of Mansooran village, said, in the past 10 days, the villages along the Pakhowal road were getting only five to six hours of power supply in a day. He said he used to remain near his tubewell to switch on the pump whenever the power supply resumed, before a farmer of a neighbouring village advised him to get his motor adjusted to run on the LPG. Mr Grewal said, “It only took the mechanic half an hour to adjust the motor and fix the cylinder on the pump. Many other farmers of my village have followed suit.” Mr Malkiat Singh of Pamal village said his pump, that was now being run on the LPG, worked for 40 hours per cylinder because it had a 5 hp engine. He said 8 hp engines worked for 30 to 32 hours per cylinder. Mr Malkiat Singh said it had taken only 10 days for this idea to catch the fancy of the other farmers of his village. He said, “Earlier, farmers used to wait endlessly for the power supply to resume. Things have changed since we have switched over to the LPG.” |
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Dry port exempted from freight hike Ludhiana, June 30 This was disclosed by Mr Vineet Ohri, newly-appointed Commissioner, Customs, for the region, who in the city on a visit to the Dry Ports of Inland Container Depot, while addressing a meeting of exporters and three custodians - CONCORD, Punjab State Warehousing Corporation and Overseas
Warehousing (Private) Limited. Principal representatives from trade were Mr V.P. Chopra of Federation of SSIs, Mr Satish Dhanda of EEPC, Mr Rajinder Jindal of Exporters Association . He appreciated the growth of export and import traffic over the last few years. At present customs was facilitating clearance of around 2500-3000 containers per month at Ludhiana and the ICD handled another 1500-2000 containers for other downstream CFSs at Jalandhar and Chheratta. Annual traffic during the past year was 21,064 containers in imports and 22,561 containers in exports. The Commissioner advised the traders to utilise the facilities of dry ports at Ludhiana to the maximum to take full advantage of the concession. |
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Bhattal group upset over
PCC reorganisation Ludhiana, June 30 Senior leaders owing allegiance to Mrs Bhattal, while talking to The Ludhiana Tribune on a condition of anonymity, said an agreement had been reached at a meeting between Capt Amarinder Singh, Mrs Bhattal and Mr Jagmeet Singh Brar in presence of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary, Mrs Ambika Soni and the Treasurer, Mr Moti Lal Vohra, who is also in charge of Punjab, that a 51-member committee would be constituted with 15 members each from Bhattal and Brar group and others on the PCC president’s choice. However, the leaders claimed, the agreement had been breached as the group led by Capt Amarinder Singh had swept all posts without any important or significant position being given to other two group. They disclosed that Capt Amarinder Singh had nominated 85 members against the 51 permitted by the high command. For the Bhattal group the most disappointing thing had been the removal of Mr Harmohinder Singh as the president of the Ludhiana district (rural), who had been replaced by Mr Gurdev Singh Lapran. The Bhattal supporters argued that Mr Lapran had left the party when he was a district president, just because he was not allotted the ticket. There was no guarantee that he would not repeat what he had done in the past in case he did not get the ticket again. Mr Harmohinder Singh was believed to be quite close to Mrs Bhattal. Mr Harmohinder Singh was quite an influential MLA from Raikote. He had shot into prominence after defeating Mr Ranjit Singh Talwandi, a son of senior Akali leader, and currently the SGPC President, Mr Jagdev Singh Talwandi, especially at a time when there was a sweeping wave in favour of Shiromani Akali Dal led by Mr Badal, on whose ticket the junior Talwandi was contesting in 1997 Assembly elections. The official group had been maintaining that Mr Harmohinder Singh was removed on the principle of one-man-one-post. However, the Bhattal group countered while quoting several examples where sitting MLAs were holding different party posts. They disclosed that there were five legislators who were currently holding various party posts in the state. They pointed out Mr Tej Prakash, an MLA from Jalandhar cantonment and Mr Avtar Singh Henry also an MLA from Jalandhar city were state vice-presidents of the party. Similarly there were three other MLAs who were holding the presidents’ post in different districts. These included Mr Amarjit Singh Samra, who is an MLA from Nakodar and is also president of the Jalandhar district (rural), Mr Gurcharan Singh Darbha, who is an MLA from Darbha, is also the president of the Sangrur district and Mr Harminder Singh Jassi, an MLA from Talwandi Sabo, who has been appointed as the district president Bathinda in the recent party reorganisation. The leaders also claimed that out of the 13 different committees constituted by the PCC President, only four had been approved by the AICC, the remaining were set up just to accommodate some people as their chairmen. |
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CITY SCAN EVERY institution is manifestation of human mind through organised labour. If a set of hands builds it, it requires many more such sets to maintain it. It is a real problem to assure its growth and to maintain its health. All institutions face odds which challenge their growth. An educational institution is of the highest importance in any society which plans to make an integrated growth. Fortunately in our region, we had the Government College. Again our good luck, it was twice blessed by the great educational genius, Principal A.C.C. Hervey, I.E.S. Outwardly, he built it brick-by-brick. Inherently, he laid great traditions. He led his faculty- team. This team did wonders to establish traditions and thus created history. Principal Hervey, besides many others works, pioneered the Fine Arts Club. Sahir, Mohan Sehgal, Harkrishan Lall, many more artists, contributed to the making of the tradition. Punjab is proud of its artists and painters. The life and works of Harkrishan Lall provide elements of biography as well as those of creativity. A seed is a biological capsule which inherits residue of the past. At the same time it needs a planter, a gardener and a suitable environment for growth. A.C.C. Hervey, proved to be a real gardener. The Government College provided the atmosphere for the growth of talent. Harkrishan Lall graduated and wanted to start painting boards and do hoardings. Mr Hervey advised him to do better. Taking practical step, he gave him a meaningful letter for the Principal of J.J. School of Arts, Bombay. Admission was thus managed by Hervey. Harkrishan was left to manage the growth of the creative artist in him. He did come up to the expectations of his mentor. For all the appreciations, awards and rewards, he was thankful to his maker, Hervy’s eyes penetrated deep into the artist in the making in the being of Harkrishan. He is the second Punjabi, only next to the legendary, Amrita Shergill. He thus shines among the pioneers such as Satish Gujral, Alpana Caur, Manjit Bawa and A.R. Chughtai from the Punjabi stock. He rubbed shoulders with artists from the Bengal School, Southern and Western India. Thus he made his city proud. He earned pride for his alma mater. He died last year but he leaves behind a legacy to inspire the tribe of painters and fine-artists in the city and the region. He liked K.H. Ara, N.S. Bendre and Nandlal Bose. Harkrishan Lall is one of the few Indian painters to have elicited appreciative response from the stiff-necked western elite. His selected paintings were displayed in England (1947, 1974), the USA and Canada (1951, 72); the USSR, Poland, (West ) Germany (1953); Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Bulgaria (1958). His works won admiration at Venice Biennale (1953), Sao Paulo Biennale (1962) and Tokyo Biennale (1963). He had the rare honour of holding one-man exhibitions for more than four decades in India : New Delhi, Srinagar, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Patiala, Bombay, Calcutta, etc. at renowned art galleries such as Dhoomi Mal, Ashoka, Jehangir, Taj Art , Rampart Art. He created real history at Paris at its Gallerie de le tourneile in years 1967 and 69, besides soliciting acclaims at San Jose California in 1972. The ceremonies were televised. Drawing as an optional school-subject attracts not many takers these days. Painting as hobby is cultivated only by a few. This age is money-oriented. Hobbies reduce tension and provide relaxation. The Fine Arts Club has glorious past. Master Hari Singh motivated many. Ashok Sen revealed his faculty as an art critic way back in 1950. He published a rare article on Harkishan Lall. N.P.Dhanda electrified the youth by practical guidance. He even motivated Principal K.S. Thapar to take painting as hobby. Many professors took to painting. Swarnjit Savi is a notable artist who inherits the art and legacy of Harkrishan Lall. He imbibed modern awareness. Savi used pure colours for impressionistic works. Eye was dominant, mind had a holiday. Later on he explored a deeper self and took to expressionism. He revealed mind as its active best. He cultivated post-modernist trends through experiments with forms and tools. He started as a realist, painted portraits as close as a camera would do . The restless mind took to poetry. Savi is a serious student of poetry in English, Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi. He is a sensitive poet himself. He critically selected the quotations from scores of poets and aesthetically presented the creative moods of poets. His one-man poster-poem exhibition of 70 posters was historic. Thirtyfive shows were held in Punjab and parts of Haryana during 1987-90. He put up three one-man shows depicting a series of 35 oil paintings (The Desire): at Thakur Singh Art Gallery, Amritsar (1997) , Museum Art Gallery, Chandigarh (1998) and Patiala Art World, Patiala (1999). Exploring new themes and developing art of exposition, he presented a solo show of 25 paintings at Indusind. Art Gallery, Chandigarh (2000). He did appreciative participation at Punjab Lalit Kala Academy (1990), Art India, Ludhiana (1991-92), Art Heritage, Jalandhar (1997, 98). Savi is impatient with patience. He is patient with the execution of his work. He is mindful of form to hold contents. He holds master’s degree in English, is a master in the art of portraiture, an author of seven collection of poems, winner of dozens, of award including those from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar and the Department of Languages, Punjab, Patiala. Government College for Women runs a successful PG Fine Arts Department. Ironically, the Fine Arts Club of Government College (boys) is lying dormant. Ajaib Chitrakar imbibes both Sahir and Harkrishan Lall — he is a poet as well as painter. Dev expressed himself and left his mark at PAU. He is doing well in Germany. Rich people display Hussain and other notables. Our painters too merit attention and appreciation. All metros have excellent fine arts galleries. Where is one in ours? Kulwinder Singh, advocate, is pursuing this hobby successfully. He has arranged solo shows, Ms Babli and Mrs Manjit Billa are doing fine. Dammi, holding degree in law, a fine artist, runs a beauty parlour. His talent gets a new outlet. Scores of busy doctors are adopting it as hobby. Many house wives and talented girls are learning fine arts and commercial paintings at art galleries. The tribe of Sahir is heard and read through Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, Harbhajan Halwarvi, Swaranjit Savi and others. The tribe of Harkrishan is visible through, Savi. Babli, Kulwinder and many more. |
Papa’s money spoiling
honey Ludhiana, June 30 For school-going children bicycle is an alien term. They prefer Maruti car, Ford, Esteem, Honda City and even Mercedes. Few children watch cartoons or action channels. Video games and browsing adult sites on personal computers or chatting with their ‘unknown’ cyber friends for hours is the in-thing. A social worker in the city says that when girls wear scanty and skimpy dresses in front of their parents, they are encouraged rather than rebuked. The “fun-loving” children go for dating and change their girlfriends and boyfriends like clothes. Some parents of upper and middle strata of society often glorify the negative aspects of life to their children. Such parents get a setback hurt only when they come to know that their off-spring is suffering from some venereal disease or is hooked to smack or heroin, she said. One of the city’s gynecologists, on condition of anonymity, disclosed that teenage pregnancies are on the rise and quite common in this industrial city. So called broad-minded parents encourage their children to have “healthy” relationship with the opposite sex but such liberty is often misused. She said on an average in a month she receives two to three such cases. Dr Rajiv Gupta, a psychiatrist, says that younger generation is a confused lot because it is not being given proper teaching by parents. “They do not know what is right and what is wrong for them. They have everything, yet they feel insecure, deprived and are confused”, he adds. Ms Rita Dhanda, feels that children should be given a comfortable life and not a luxurious one. “Parents should not allow their children to show off their riches. They should be taught to face the hardships of life”, she says. Ms Dhanda says if children are not stopped from going astray at an early age, the outcomes can be very dangerous. She said,”Parents of a child who committed suicide when one of his demands was not fulfilled are today a shattered lot”. She said in such cases it is the parents who are to blame, because they have failed to be good parents. City resident, Pawan Vinayak says it is good to know and enjoy the benefits of modern life but all this should be in moderation. She said,” The children should be taught to bear the harsh realities of life because it is only by venturing out in the scorching heat and biting cold that one gets the real taste of life. |
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War museum to be ready by year-end Ludhiana, June 30 The State Minister of Defence Services, Welfare and Jails, Mr Ajit Singh Kohar, who was in the city
to take an account of the conditions of the war memorial, said that the work on the museum was being completed on a war footing and it would be formally opened to the public. He visited the museum and assured that he would put the matter of release of funds on the agenda of the next meeting of the Cabinet. He also asked the director of the museum to meet him at Chandigarh and submit the requirement of the amount. According to Wing Commander M.S. Randhawa (retd), Deputy Director, Sainik Welfare, the director would ask for a grant of Rs 50 lakh which was required for the completion of the museum. Mr Kohar also said that the government was constructing sainik houses in various districts of the state. Speaking further about the plans of the Defence Services, the minister said that the government had increased the grant for the marriage of daughters of ex-servicemen from Rs 3,500 to 5,000. He said that the annual payment to the soldiers decorated with bravery awards was also increased. It should be recalled here that the foundation stone of the museum was laid by Gen O.P. Malhotra, the then Governor of Punjab, in 1991.At the ceremony it was announced that the museum , the first of its kind made by the state government, was planned to commemorate the sacrifices made by people from Punjab in defending the country. Before this museum the various defense battalions or regiments stationed in the state had a common practice of making such museums but they exhibited feats of their
own. This museum aimed to present at one place almost all the feats of the defense personnel of the state. Though it was promised that the work on the museum would be completed on a war footing yet it had now been 10 years since the initiation of the construction work. Only two years ago a hall having light and sound effects, screening a film based on the feats of Punjabis in both pre and post Independence India for defending the motherland, was completed and
inaugurated. The completion of the work on this front had raised hopes that the remaining portion would also be completed at the earliest but they were yet to be fulfilled. |
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Youth — biggest asset of nation Ludhiana, June 30 She further said more than 3,400 youth clubs in various villages were functioning in the state. The membership of the clubs was open to the individuals between the age group of 15 to 35 years. Even non-students could become members. The Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, who understood the importance of contribution of youth, was keen that programmes should be devised where youth could contribute towards the welfare of the society. Each club should have minimum of 40 members and there is no upper limit to the membership. The club members elect president and secretary of these clubs. The retired Army personnel and educationists are their guides and help
them. It is mandatory to have 33 per cent of girl members in these clubs. Mrs Hirdai was the Deputy Director of Youth Welfare Department but after her transfer to Chandigarh, Mr Charanjit was given additional charge. Mrs Hirdai said that though there were 18 districts, the officers were only nine in number. Despite shortage of staff these clubs functioned well. There were different programmes devised for school and college students. For young people of classes IX to XII, youth leadership training camps were organised. In these camps of seven-day duration the students were addressed by highly qualified ‘resource persons.’ They were taught yoga. The students were taken for hiking and trekking. All expenses were borne by the
state. The students were given diet money which amounts to Rs 50 per person per day. The Director said,‘‘We devise need-based programmes for college students. In the villages the crematoriums are in a bad state. The students are motivated to make platforms, and plant flowers so as to make the ultimate resting place a restful one. In some villages the students have really given good facelift to the crematoriums. The students always rise to the occasion. For the victims of Gujarat earthquake, the young people collected a sum of Rs 8 lakh. They aid in the health camps, including blood donation and eye operation camps in the villages. They give their services willingly and cheerfully. Youth are mobilised to run campaigns against dowry and female foeticide.’’ She said that the change in the youth came about imperceptibly . But they definitely changed for better. The seminars and camps for social development make them socially useful and productive citizens. The youth were given 20 points for every contribution they made. At the end of a year, the youth who had rendered the best services with minimum of 20 points was awarded Shaeed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh Award. The award carries a scroll, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 5,000. The youth join NSS and help in flood management and other disasters caused by nature. Mr Honey Bains, who worked in the department, earlier said that the students gained a lot from these camps. He said,‘‘I have seen the aggressive young people change when they are given responsibilities. They only need guidance and right direction. Their abounding energy if properly directed can bring a remarkable change in the society.’’ The Director also said that ,‘‘ Many young people are assuming the posts of ‘sarpanchs’ in the villages. They have understood that they are the ones on whom the future rests. They are willing to shoulder their responsibilities and bring in the dawn of a new society, free of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. Of course, some are misled and take to drugs. I hold adults responsible for it. ’’ |
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New light in lighting techniques Ludhiana, June 30 He provides complete lighting for five star hotels, homes, monuments and commercial showrooms. According to him, there are new trends, new techniques which lead to exciting possibilities. ‘‘Today the priority of people is to assure a soft overall illumination, or ambient lighting which means general lighting. People prefer to use wall lights, indirect cove lighting, or soft down lighters to provide accent light which means to focus lighting so that the beauty of art and other objects of beauty is highlighted. The third kind of light is task light that focuses on the very spot it is needed most for work or reading. Proper lighting design allows the decorative fixtures such as chandeliers to give the illusion of providing the light for a given space,’’says
Basoor. Earlier the trend in the living room was to use accent lighting, but this changed the focus from human beings to the objects of art. But these days lighting has become combination of ambient and accent
lighting. Three types of lighting should be used in key areas- the drawing, the dining and the
bedrooms. when the family is in the drawing room, then the lighting should be more
ambient. This kind of light humanises the room. The accent lighting should be less in comparison. On the formal occasions, the emphasis should be more on accent lighting as it would highlight objects in the room and add dramatic dimensions to the room. Without this type of lighting the room would appear to be flat. On the other hand without ambient light the space would have museum-like quality. So both the lights are essential. For bigger gatherings, a balance of both the lighting is required. The third type of lighting is task lighting. This is the light that is needed for work such as reading, sewing or writing. All these three aspects of lighting have to be incorporated in the house to add sparkle to the well-lit room. ‘‘These days when people watch TV for a number of hours then in a room size of 12 feet by 14 feet ambient 150 lux should be used. Lux is a unit of illumination. In that room two tube lights would be sufficient but the light source should not be visible. Good light is uniform without any shadows. Lighting is 20 per cent science and 80 per cent art. The problem is that the architects generally provide lights for the opening day and whether such lighting system can be maintained is not taken into
consideration. A lighting system in the house should be
workable,energy-efficient and cost-effective. Lighting is considered only after the whole house is planned. Intelligent lighting is the latest kind of lighting which does not need any controls and there are many sensors coming built-in with control panel. But it is expensive. For best effects tri-phosphor tubes should be used. These tubes are good for colour rending(showing the colours in original) are cost effective, and efficient. Halogen lights are also good. These days people are paying special attention to lighting of entrances, kitchens, bathrooms, gazebos and patios that allow entertaining to spill out in the gardens. |
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‘Congress betrayed interests of Punjab’ Ludhiana, June 30 Addressing a meeting of party workers of Sarabha Nagar circle at Karan Palace late last evening, Mr Garcha charged Congress with betraying the interests of Punjab. The successive Congress governments in the state and at the Centre had fleeced and exploited the Punjab and Punjabis to the extent that the Sikh community was specially targetted for repression. He said Punjab was ignored for allocation of industries and other major projects for infrastructure development. Mr Makkar made a strong plea in favour of Mr Sharanjit Singh Dhillon as the party candidate from Ludhiana (Rural) seat in the coming assembly elections. He said the sitting Akali Dal legislator having switched his loyalty to former SGPC President Gurcharan Singh Tohra, the constituency was virtually unrepresented and Mr Dhillon had effectively filled the gap. Mr Dhillon claimed that the state had ushered in a new era of peace and development during the regime of SAD-BJP government, headed by Mr Parkash Singh Badal. “What the present government has done in four years, could not be done by successive Congress governments in over 40 years.” He said the NDA government at the Centre, being sympathetic to the Punjab Government, the state had been allocated various big industrial projects and huge funds for infrastructural development. According to Mr Dhillon, it was for the first time in the history of Punjab that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had given effect to the concept of ‘government at your door step’ through his ‘sangat darshan’ programmes, both in the rural and urban areas of the state. He said the criticism of sangat darshan, the programme for on-the-spot distribution of development grants, was politically motivated and direct result of frustration on the part of opposition parties, who had no costructive policy or programme for the welfare of the people. Baba Ajit Singh, Mr Darshan Singh Shivalik, councillor, Mr Harbhajan Singh Dang, Mr Ajit Singh Batra, Mr Inderpreet Singh Bhattal, Circle President, and Mr Bhupinder Singh Gogi also addressed the meeting. Meanwhile, the Danga Peerit Welfare Society, Punjab, at a meeting held under the presidentship of Mr Surjit Singh here today, decided to participate in the district conference of SAD at Gurdwara Manji Sahib, Alamgir, on July 2, in large numbers. According to a press release, a committee, headed by Mr Gurdev Singh, chairman of the society, has been set up to motivate the riot-affected families for participation in the conference. The activists of the society would get together in Dugri Gurdwara on July 2, from where the riot victims would proceed for the venue of the conference under the leadership of SAD vice-president Amarjit Singh
Bhatia. |
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Front condemns Chohan’s
return Ludhiana, June 30 They said here today that, by sticking to the Khalistan ideology, Chohan had shown that he still hated India. Mr Bawa and Mr Dewan said, according to reports, a case of sedition was pending against Chohan for the past 20 years. They said, “Chohan, who says that he has not murdered anyone, in an interview to the BBC, had announced a reward for assassinating Indira Gandhi, the then prime minister of India.” They said persons like Chohan and Zaffarwal had provoked the youth of the state to pick up arms. They said Chohan, self-proclaimed President of the Council of Khalistan, was now making fresh attempts to destabilise the peace in the state after initial failure. They also said Zaffarwal and Chohan were ISI agents who should be treated accordingly. Mr Bawa and Mr Dewan said now drug and economic terrorism was on the rise as the ISI was smuggling fake currency into India. They said, at a meeting of the state unit of the front next week, workers would prepare for the August 14 rally that was to be held in Talkotara Stadium of New Delhi to honour freedom fighters. |
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Shiv Sena, Youth Congress flay Badal Ludhiana, June 30 The party spokesman, Mr Pawan Sharma, said in a statement here today that the Shiv Sena was not against any particular religion but at the same time, the Chief Minister should have equal concern for all the religious groups. “While Mr Badal has made the mention of gurdwaras in Pakistan, which were not being properly maintained, he has forgotten the similar or even worse condition of Hindu places of worship like Katasraj.” Mr Sharma said Mr Badal should keep in mind that he was the Chief Minister of a state and did not represent any particular community. Such partisan attitude could hurt the religious feelings of Hindu community, which would not be conducive to the atmosphere of communal amity in Punjab,he added. Meanwhile, Mr Jaswinder Singh Grewal, Ward President of District Youth Congress (DYC), has charged the Chief Minister with disturbing the peace and normalcy in the state, which was attained by making huge sacrifices by the Congress. He said the militants and fundamentalists were being brought back to Punjab in ‘wholesale’ with the sole purpose that the ruling SAD could draw political mileage in the wake of coming assembly elections. Commenting on the ‘home coming’ of Khalistan ideologue Dr Jagjit Singh Chohan, he said the people of Punjab would see through the nefarious designs of the erstwhile militants and their political patrons in the ruling party and would not permit, in any case, the disruption of peace and communal brotherhood in Punjab. He also questioned the bonafides of Dr Chohan, who had demanded that certain police officers be brought to book for their role during period of militancy in the state. |
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Rural urban Sikh divide
within SAD (B) ? Ludhiana, June 30 Some leaders who attended the meeting disclosed that there was general consensus that the urban Sikhs deserved their share within the party as they had always remained loyal to the party. There was a general feeling expressed at the meeting that the SAD was dominated by the rural Sikhs. The assertion of their claims by the urban Sikhs is understood to have been prompted by the fact that in the seat sharing arrangement between the SAD and the BJP, most of the urban seats will go to the BJP. In order to ensure that this section of the party is not left high and dry, they have already chalked out a strategy and started exerting pressure over the Chief Minister. Two factors are attributed to the assertion of urban identity within the SAD. One that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who is also the president of the party, might be trying to preempt any extra pressure from the BJP for conceding more seats. The BJP has already declared that it wanted to contest more seats this time than it had contested in 1997 elections. Since its claim remains confined to the urban areas only, the Chief Minister is reportedly encouraging the urban Sikhs so that he can argue with the BJP that he has to accommodate his supporters among the urbanites. Another factor responsible for this move is believed to be the ambitions of the senior vice-president Mr Amarjit Singh Bhatia, who has been appointed as the convener of the national-level committee of the urban Sikhs. He is already caught in a struggle for one upmanship with his rival Mr Avtar Singh Makkar, acting district president of the party in Ludhiana. He is believed to be preparing the ground for himself as he is keen to contest from one of the urban seats in Ludhiana. Understanding well the motives of his rival, Mr Makkar today came out against Mr Bhatia and alleged that his move would harm the Akali interests. He alleged that it was a deep rooted conspiracy hatched by those who wanted to weaken the Akali Dal led by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. He pointed out, “Sikh is a Sikh and to segmentise him under various categories like urban or rural is against the panth”. Mr Makkar observed, it was wrong and far from the truth that the Akali Dal was dominated by the rural Sikhs. He pointed out, Master Tara Singh, who led the party for about four decades and set a tradition in Akali politics was himself an urban Sikh. |
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Victimisation by bank alleged Ludhiana, June 30 Mr Satish Kumar, a resident of Mulanpur Dhakhan village near here, in a signed affidavit, has alleged that he has been harassed by the bank manager of the local branch of the Oriental Bank of Commerce in connivance with the Naib Tehsildar of the area. He has alleged that he had taken a commercial loan of Rs 2,91,000 from the bank in 1998 to set up a floor mill and had taken a credit limit of Rs 2,00,000. He had to pay Rs 20,000 and a juicer worth Rs 2667 to Mr Kuldeep Singh Grewal, the bank manager, to get the loan. After getting the loan, the bank manager demanded Rs 15,000 to get money out of the credit limit. However, the compromise was reached at Rs 5,000. After paying the amount, he was given Rs 75,000 out of the credit limit. However, out of that amount, Rs 25,000 was adjusted as an installment of the term loan though he was paying the installments regularly. Mr Satish Kumar alleged that the bank manager demanded another Rs 10,000 to release the remaining amount. In the mean time, he complained to the higher authorities about the bribe taken by the manager. Ironically, no action was taken against the manager, rather he was issued a notice by the Naib Tehsildar, Mr Mukesh Sharma, to pay the debt with interest amounting to Rs 4,22,575 within two days or face action. Mr Satish Kumar claimed that he was arrested illegally and kept in Central Jail, Ludhiana, for 40 days from November 23, 2000, to December 30. He expressed apprehensions about his security as he feared that he may be killed or kidnapped by the bank manager and the Naib Tehsildar. On the other hand, Mr Grewal denied the allegations of bribery and said that Mr Satish Kumar was defaulter and the bank had filed a case against him under the Land Revenue Act to recover the loan. Since, his guarantor, Mr Vijay Malhotra, had taken an anticipatory bail so Mr Satish Kumar was alleging corruption and other charges against him. Mr Mukesh Sharma, Naib Tehsildar, said, “The person was arrested under the Land Revenue Act as desired by the higher officials. I had no option but to take action against him. The allegations of harassment and bribery are baseless.” Mr Satish Kumar has to pay Rs 5.25 lakh to the bank and his mill has been already closed down. The bank manager says they would auction his house and machinery worth about Rs 12 lakh after following the due course of law. Mr Satish Kumar has demanded action against the bank manager and the Naib Tehsildar as he has been made bankrupt by both for exposing corrupt dealings. |
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Women empowerment can improve quality of life Ludhiana, June 30 This project was started by Dr Maqbool Haque and Prof Amritya Sen, the Noble Laureate. They later added a few more parameters to the human development index — the most important being empowerment of women. Only when women are empowered like in Scandinavian countries like Norway, Sweden and Denmark, the quality of life is much better than even the people in the USA. In the USA women empowerment is comparatively much less. It was doing well in quality of life, but when women were not given empowerment, the quality of life plummeted. In India, Kerala has the highest literacy rate and for that reason women are literate and the sex ratio is in favour of females. Women empowerment can come through literacy only. In the 2001 census some states like Punjab, Haryana, HP, Delhi, Rajasthan and Maharashtra are called “daughter maroo states.” This has been declared by Dr Ashish Bose, a population expert. This inequality in the sex ratio will further cause havoc with the social system. What is quality of life? People generally think of it in terms of targets and goals and that is ultimate for them. But the moment a target is achieved , the person starts looking for another target. Some sort of unquenched quest always mars the quality of life. The “mantra” for the quality of life depends on the status of quality one is enjoying which in turn, will depend on the quality of health services and quality of education. For the people in UP and Bihar, the
quality does not matter as the people invest in human resources. They consider a large number of children as assets and since they would be earning , they will bring at least economic stability. They are not concerned about the quality of education, health and food. They are just interested in producing children and even if some die, some will survive and help them. Terrorism, violence, murder, rapes, loot and arson and juvenile delinquency are all results of poor quality of life. Unless the women are given a better education, the quality of life cannot improve. Moreover, social injustice against the Scheduled Castes has to go away to maintain good quality of life. To achieve better quality of life, Dr Jaswal of PAU suggests multi-pronged approach, first of all he suggests sensitisation of society by making them aware of the problems and involving sound leadership of religious and political heads. So a social security system for the children, aged and handicapped people should be provided. Special care should be given to uplift the status of women so that they can bring in the desired change in improving the quality of life. |
Woman beaten up, hospitalised Sahnewal, June 30 A case has been registered on the statement of Jal Kaur under Sections 342, 323 and 34 of the IPC. |
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Physical activity for them means billiards, swimming, squash or table tennis. Games like kabaddi, kho-kho and hockey are outdated and meant only for “pendus”. Some children are not even aware of these games. Lunch-time favourites of these children include pizzas and chowmein ordered on mobile phones from various multinational eating joints. Paranthas, chapatis and vegetables are not relished by the present generation.